New Delhi: An anthrax outbreak in Bori Wildlife Sanctuary, in Hoshangabad district, Madhya Pradesh, has lead to the deaths of two gaurs (Indian Bison). Samples collected from the livestock on the fringes of the sanctuary have shown presence of the anthrax bacterium. The stage government and the forest department of Madhya Pradesh have geared up to take precautionary measures to control further spread of the disease.A team of veterinary doctors has been deputed by the state government for mass inoculation of livestock in the region.

When contacted by WTI, park deputy director, Mr. Jagdish Chandra, said that park authorities were keeping a close watch to ensure that the disease does not spread to the wildlife in the area. He confirmed that only two deaths of gaurs have been reported so far. No other wildlife casualties have been reported, he said.

Bori Wildlife Sanctuary was established in year 1977, under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. The area of the sanctuary is 518sq.km(approx).

The fauna in the sanctuary includes carnivores like the tiger, leopard and wild dog and ungulates including the gaur.

Anthrax is a bacterial disease caused by the spore–forming Bacillus anthracis, a Gram positive, rod–shaped bacterium anthrax is primarily a disease of herbivores. However, reports of its occurrence in dogs scavenging anthrax carcasses and in carnivorous animals in zoological gardens and wildlife sanctuaries or parks are not entirely uncommon, though outbreaks affecting large numbers of carnivorous animals are very rare.

Anthrax is enzootic in southern India but is less frequent to absent in the northern Indian states where the soil is more acid, while in Nepal it is endemic.

The incubation period in the susceptible herbivore ranges from about 36 to 72 hours and leads into the hyperacute systemic phase, usually without easily discernible prior symptoms. The first signs of an anthrax outbreak are one or more sudden deaths in the affected livestock. In highly susceptible species, the period between onset of visible symptoms and death may be just a few hours; the course of these events is more protracted in more resistant species.

The history is of major importance in the diagnosis of anthrax. Clinical manifestations to look for are:

• Ruminants: Sudden death, bleeding from orifices, subcutaneous haemorrhage, without prior symptoms or following a brief period of fever and disorientation should lead to suspicion of anthrax.

   

• Equines and some wild herbivores: Some transient symptoms fever, restlessness, dyspnoea, agitation may be apparent.

   

• Pigs, carnivores, primates: Local oedemas and swelling of face and neck or of lymph nodes, particularly mandibular and pharyngeal and/or mesenteric.

   

(Disease information courtesy WHO’s Guidelines for the Surveillance and Control of Anthrax in Humans and Animals)

Photo Coutesy : MKS Pasha